Vincent Irizarry, who plays Dr. David Hayward on ALL MY CHILDREN, posted a lengthy statement on Facebook offering his insight into Prospect Park's decision to reduce the number of new ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE episodes from four to two per week and highlighting what he sees as the positives behind this development.

Greetings to you all from “Pine Valley!” In fact, I just returned the other night from a very successful 5 weeks of shooting "All My Children" in Connecticut, getting my life back on track on the home front since, but I've been wanting to address many of your comments/questions re: the news that AMC/OLTL is now going to be airing on Hulu and iTunes twice a week each, rather than the 4 times per week previously airing. First, I'd like to emphasize the positives that don't seem to be getting enough attention since this news had been reported, which very much deserves mentioning. Our show was number one in viewing during the 1st week of airing on both Hulu and iTunes, while maintaining an extremely strong showing within the top 5 each week since! That's news definitely worth celebrating, due in greater part to all of our dear, loyal viewers who have been watching faithfully since their return. So please accept our sincere collective thanks to you all, apart from whom we never could have accomplished any of this.

Please understand, the decision was made out of our producers being sensitive to the viewing patterns and busy lives of all our faithful viewers. They were able to analyze by the 3rd week, many viewers were still just watching shows from the 1st week, thereby having fallen behind by 12 hours of viewing at that time already; if they were watching both shows. Their decision was based on their genuine desire to prevent any of you from falling so far behind, whereas you begin to experience catching up as an obligation, or worse, as a burden. The content and stories of these shows are being produced as moving much faster than they originally were on network, with each episode being substantive and important not to miss. Also, even though they're half-hour in length, that's 25 mins of show time compared to 35 mins of show time on a 1 hour network soap. Not much of a difference, especially considering the density of each episode airing compared to those of the 1 hour network shows. Even those shows prepare themselves for viewers dropping off several days within the week, knowing that not all their episodes will be seen in their entirety, which is why they’re known for moving slower in pace and story, preventing those of you from missing story if any given show is not seen. Because of how fast our shows move, we don't have that luxury, wishing you to miss nothing.

Considering that many of our favorite nighttime shows are 1 hour in length per week, with only 13 episodes per season, our 1 hour of shows each week, at 110 or more for the year, is again, an embarrassment of riches by comparison for those of us who love these shows and are excited to have the ability to enjoy them once again. Yes, it's now "Anytime" rather than "Daytime," and our producers are committed to helping us all enjoy these shows at our leisure, without the stress attached to falling way behind. With the great number of episodes being offered for this year, I’m confident that we’ll all be satisfied with the many hours of viewing pleasure available to us all. We, as a cast and production team, are extremely proud of our beloved shows airing, and can’t be more grateful to all of you for your overwhelming expressions of excitement and support for all we’re doing to bring these iconic shows back for you to enjoy. We’re also sincerely humbled by your very vocal expressions of love and enthusiasm for what you’ve all been seeing. It is ours, and most importantly, Prospect Park’s intention to do whatever possible to enable us to continue bringing these cherished shows into your homes, whether via your flat screens, your tablets, computers, or even your cell phones for many, many more years, and hopefully, generations to come. Group hug, Vincent : )

5 comments:

Very inspiring - I am not nearly as upset about this as I was. As long as you actors are happy and getting paid what you are worth, and as long as the shows continue, I will continue to support them, and you. Thanks Vincent!

I'm just ecstatic to be able to watch these wonderful soaps again, so you won't hear/read any complaints from me! I appreciate the careful thought put into the decision to schedule the shows twice a week, alternating between the two, because my life is very busy, and I hate missing anything. Thank you to Prospect Park for bringing the wonderful casts and communities back into our lives. Thank you to the actors/actresses for making the people of Pine Valley and Llanview live again.

Nice try Vincent, but i'm just not buying that its for the Fans, but rather, to save money. I've been hunting the site several times a nite all week long, looking for new episodes (obviously not privy to the decision to cut back) and frankly, to read that i've been wasting my time for one, and two, that this as why - it ticks me off! I have watched every single ep and its not like we don't have the weekends to also get caught up. Atleast 3 per week should be the minimum, or i may well lose interest due to just plain forgetting about them entirely.

I might also point out, that while perhaps during the prime time season of roughly late September to early May, 2 shows a week "might" suffice? but during the summer, I think 4 is fine, but again, not less than 3. I truly wonder what the Actors "really" think about all this??!

PP needs a lesson on writing a press release...The cast is explaining it in a much more positive way that inspires confidence.The official press release made me feel like I, as a viewer, was being "let go"!